Change bad habits

The good news is, we can often change these habits ourselves without professional help.

One aspect that's key is to strengthen the association your brain makes between your bed and being asleep. To do this, it helps to try and limit the time you spend in bed not sleeping. So if you find sleeping a problem then you might want to:

Restrict your bedroom activities to sleep and sex. Avoid reading, using the computer or mobile devices. or watching TV in bed.

Don't spend extensive periods in bed aimed at increasing the chance of catching up on missed sleep.

Once in bed, if you aren't asleep in 20 to 30 minutes, get up and do something you find relaxing until you feel drowsy again. This may be reading a book (nothing too stimulating), listening to music, doing breathing or relaxation exercises, or having a warm drink of milk. Keep the light dim and do NOT smoke, drink coffee or tea, watch TV or use the computer. When you're feeling drowsy, go back to bed and try again. If you still aren't asleep after 20 to 30 minutes, get back up again.

Spend some time "winding down"

Hitting the sack when your mind is reeling from overstimulation can make sleep impossible.

So if you've spent the evening rushing around completing tasks, or worse, grappling with a stressful issue like sorting out your finances, don't be surprised if you can't switch off straight away when you try to go to bed.

Scheduling time to do something you find relaxing for 20-30 minutes before you retire  like listening to music or reading a light book  can make all the difference.

Setting an alarm to remind you when it's time to start your wind down can be helpful if you tend to get absorbed in what you're doing.

And once you're in bed, mental imagery can be useful to distract you from recurring stressful thoughts. The age-old advice to count sheep works for some, but others find counting tasks stressful  the opposite of what you want!

The ideal mental distraction is something pleasant, somewhat repetitive and not too stimulating, for example visualising waves gently lapping against the side of a boat.

Eat right for sleep

Consuming foods high in the amino acid tryptophan  a building block of proteins  a few hours before bedtime can help you sleep because your brain uses tryptophan to create a chemical called serotonin, that helps regulate your sleep cycle.

Foods high in tryptophan include milk, yoghurt, cheese, and poultry.

But you'll need to make sure that you follow these foods up with some type of carbohydrate to help the tryptophan reach your brain. Starchy foods such as white or wholemeal bread, potatoes and jasmine rice, can help with this process. But bear in mind these are not recommended in large amounts for those who have diabetes or who are overweight or obese.

Some people find spicy foods give them indigestion which keeps them awake.

Keep a balanced view of sleep

While it's probably not good to fail to get enough sleep for long periods of time, don't get unduly alarmed if you have the odd bad night. Excessive worry about not sleeping is likely to make sleeplessness worse.

But bear in mind, if you've gone without sleep for any significant length of time, it will affect your coordination, judgement and reaction time.

So if you're severely sleep deprived, avoid tasks where these factors are paramount  such as driving  until you catch up on your lost kip.